[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"detail-sidebar-cat-0-en-105":3,"doc-seo-590506-105":59,"doc-detail-590506-en":130},{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":6},0,"success",[7,13,18,23,28,33,38,43,48,51,55],{"id":8,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":10,"show_sort_weight":11,"slug":12},1,"Document","Story & Novel",90,"story-novel",{"id":14,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":15,"show_sort_weight":16,"slug":17},2,"Literature",80,"literature",{"id":19,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":20,"show_sort_weight":21,"slug":22},4,"Exam",70,"exam",{"id":24,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":25,"show_sort_weight":26,"slug":27},5,"Comic",60,"comic",{"id":29,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":30,"show_sort_weight":31,"slug":32},6,"Technology",50,"technology",{"id":34,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":35,"show_sort_weight":36,"slug":37},7,"Healthcare",40,"healthcare",{"id":39,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":40,"show_sort_weight":41,"slug":42},8,"Research & Report",30,"research-report",{"id":44,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":45,"show_sort_weight":46,"slug":47},9,"Religion & Spirituality",20,"religion-spirituality",{"id":46,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":49,"show_sort_weight":46,"slug":50},"World Cup","world-cup",{"id":52,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":53,"show_sort_weight":52,"slug":54},10,"Lifestyle","lifestyle",{"id":56,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":57,"show_sort_weight":24,"slug":58},19,"General","general",{"code":4,"msg":60,"data":61},"ok",{"site_id":62,"language":63,"slug":64,"title":65,"keywords":66,"description":67,"schema_data":68,"social_meta":123,"head_meta":125,"extra_data":127,"updated_unix":129},105,"en","before-the-school-bell-rings-how-a-before-school-physical-activity-program-improves-executive-functions","Before the School Bell Rings - How a Before-School Physical Activity Program Improves Executive Functions","","School administrators face pressure to balance time for physical activity with adequate academic instruction, while rising childhood obesity in the U.S. makes the concern urgent. This paper argues physical activity supports learning rather than competing with it and describes the BOKS (Build Our Kids’ Success) before-school program. A three-year Natick Public Schools study links BOKS participation with greater gains in executive functions such as working memory and task shifting compared with a nonparticipating group.",{"@graph":69,"@context":122},[70,84,105],{"@type":71,"itemListElement":72},"BreadcrumbList",[73,77,79,82],{"item":74,"name":75,"@type":76,"position":8},"https://docshare.wps.com","Home","ListItem",{"item":78,"name":9,"@type":76,"position":14},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/",{"item":80,"name":35,"@type":76,"position":81},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/healthcare/",3,{"item":83,"name":65,"@type":76,"position":19},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/before-the-school-bell-rings-how-a-before-school-physical-activity-program-improves-executive-functions/590506/",{"url":83,"name":65,"@type":85,"image":86,"author":91,"headline":65,"publisher":94,"fileFormat":97,"inLanguage":63,"description":67,"dateModified":98,"datePublished":99,"encodingFormat":97,"isAccessibleForFree":100,"interactionStatistic":101},"DigitalDocument",{"url":87,"@type":88,"width":89,"height":90},"https://docshare.wps.com/thumbnails/before-the-school-bell-rings-how-a-before-school-physical-activity-program-improves-executive-functions/590506.png","ImageObject",300,407,{"name":92,"@type":93},"Stanley","Person",{"url":74,"name":95,"@type":96},"DocShare","Organization","application/pdf","2026-11-10","2026-10-15",true,{"@type":102,"interactionType":103,"userInteractionCount":14},"InteractionCounter",{"@type":104},"ViewAction",{"@type":106,"mainEntity":107},"FAQPage",[108,114,118],{"name":109,"@type":110,"acceptedAnswer":111},"Why do schools struggle to provide physical activity alongside academics?","Question",{"text":112,"@type":113},"Administrators and educators need to find time for children to be active while still providing enough time for academic instruction, and accountability pressures often favor more seat time than physical activity time.","Answer",{"name":115,"@type":110,"acceptedAnswer":116},"What is the BOKS before-school physical activity program?",{"text":117,"@type":113},"BOKS (Build Our Kids’ Success) is a program offered about 40 minutes before school begins, with children participating two to three mornings per week through interactive games, exercises, running, and skill building.",{"name":119,"@type":110,"acceptedAnswer":120},"What did the three-year study find about BOKS participation?",{"text":121,"@type":113},"Children in the BOKS program showed greater increases in some executive functions, including working memory and the ability to shift between tasks, compared with a comparison group of nonparticipating children.","https://schema.org",{"og:url":83,"og:type":124,"og:title":65,"og:site_name":95,"og:description":67},"article",{"robots":126,"canonical":83},"index,follow",{"doc_id":128,"site_id":62},590506,1792670842,{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":131},{"doc_id":128,"user_id":132,"nickname":92,"user_avatar":133,"doc_module":4,"category_id":34,"category_name":35,"doc_title":65,"doc_description":67,"doc_content":134,"file_id":135,"file_url":136,"file_type":137,"file_size":138,"view_count":14,"is_deleted":4,"is_public":8,"is_downloadable":8,"audit_status":8,"page_count":24,"language":139,"language_code":63,"site_id":62,"html_lang":63,"table_of_contents":140,"faqs":141,"seo_title":142,"seo_description":67,"update_tm":143,"read_time":144,"preview_page_count":4},2336477405376,"https://ap-avatar.wpscdn.com/davatar_29158cc5080c5b710cf443261637dec0","Before the School Bell Rings  \nHow a Before-School Physical Activity Program Improves Executive Functions  \nGeorgia Hall, Kristen Fay Poston, and Stephanie Harris  \nAcross the country, school administrators and educators struggle to find time for children to engage in physical activity while still giving them enough time in academic instruction. The steep rise in childhood obesity in the U. S. (National Center for Health Statistics, 2011; Ogden, Carroll, Kit, & Flegal, 2014) suggests that the concern is urgent.  \nHowever, the need to meet accountability standards puts pressure in the direction of more “seat time” rather than physical activity time.  \nResearch suggests that the tension between physical activity and academic achievement rests on a false dichotomy. Physical activity can and does support children’s learning: Providing children with opportunities for moderate-to-vigorous physical activity can help them improve their academic performance.  \nIn keeping with this research, a before-school physical activity program called BOKS (Build Our Kids’ Success) launched during the 2009–2010 school year with a pilot  \nprogram at one elementary school in the Natick Public School district in Natick, Massachusetts. The following year the program expanded to include all five Natick elementary schools during the 2010–2011 school year. BOKS is now offered in 1,600 schools worldwide. In Natick, BOKS is offered free of charge through funding from the Reebok Foundation and MetroWest Health Foundation.  \nBOKS operates for approximately 40 minutes before school begins. Children participate for two to three mornings per week. Programming includes an average of 20 minutes of moderate-to-vigorous activity through interactive games, exercises, running, and physical skill building. Previous data suggest that BOKS children accumulate an average of 1,800 steps daily during program time (Hall, Fay, & Harris, 2014) .  \nTo investigate how a before-school physical activity program like BOKS can support the positive development  \nGEORGIA HALL, Ph. D., and KRISTEN FAY POSTON, Ph. D., are research scientists at the National Institute on Out-of-School Time (NIOST) at the Wellesley Centers for Women at Wellesley College. STEPHANIE HARRIS, M.A., recently served as research associate at NIOST. More information on BOKS can be found [at www.bokskids.org](at www.bokskids.org).  \nof young children and support school learning, we conducted a three-year study of school-related outcomes for BOKS students in Natick Public Schools. In particular, we examined whether program participation was associated with “executive functions” such as working memory and the ability to shift between tasks. We found that children in the BOKS program did experience greater increases in some executive functions than did a comparison group of nonparticipating children.  \nResearch on Physical Activity and Learning  \nSattelmair and Ratey (2009) suggest that the link between learning and physical activity may be strong: Students who engaged in a high level of strenuous physical activity exhibited higher test scores than  \nor math skills (Blair & Razza, 2007; McClelland, Morrison, & Homes, 2000) .  \nA study by Kubesch and colleagues (2009) found that executive functions can be improved by physical activity. Working with 81 students in grade 7, they examined the effects of a single 30-minute physical education program featuring aerobic endurance exercise on working memory, cognitive flexibility, and inhibition of distraction and unproductive behaviors. In contrast with students who took a five-minute aerobic movement break, students who engaged in 30 minutes of aerobic exercise were better able to stay on task in the face of distraction.  \nSeveral studies have found relationships between academic achievement and the executive function known as working memory. Working  \nthose who did not. The researchers memory, which includes  \nsuggest that “physical activity or Berg (2010) found that, when","cbCaivGujD4ALLb6","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCaivGujD4ALLb6","pdf",284973,"English","# Before-School Physical Activity and Executive Functions\n## Background: Physical Activity vs. Academic Time\n## The BOKS Program (Build Our Kids’ Success)\n## Study Design and Findings in Natick Public Schools\n## Related Research on Physical Activity and Learning","[{\"question\":\"Why do schools struggle to provide physical activity alongside academics?\",\"answer\":\"Administrators and educators need to find time for children to be active while still providing enough time for academic instruction, and accountability pressures often favor more seat time than physical activity time.\"},{\"question\":\"What is the BOKS before-school physical activity program?\",\"answer\":\"BOKS (Build Our Kids’ Success) is a program offered about 40 minutes before school begins, with children participating two to three mornings per week through interactive games, exercises, running, and skill building.\"},{\"question\":\"What did the three-year study find about BOKS participation?\",\"answer\":\"Children in the BOKS program showed greater increases in some executive functions, including working memory and the ability to shift between tasks, compared with a comparison group of nonparticipating children.\"}]","Before the School Bell Rings - How a Before-School Physical Activity Program Improves Executive Functions | PDF",1792069783,13]